Listen Up!

An important aspect of public speaking occurs, paradoxically, when it the speaker’s turn to stop talking and listen to questions or comments from the audience. You should welcome these moments. They show that the audience members are engaged and they afford the speaker an opportunity to interact more closely with them. To make the most of these moments, a speaker must embrace active listening.

Active listening means listening for the meaning and feeling of what the other person is saying. It means paying attention to what people say and thinking carefully about how to respond. This might seem like common sense, but as Mark Twain once said, “Common sense isn’t so common.”  So how we listen actively? Here are some points:

1.  Look at the person who is asking the question. Do not turn away or attend to another activity, such as filling your water glass.

2.  Listen not just to the words but to the tone.

3.  Notice the body language and facial expressions of the speaker; do they convey anything about what the person might be feeling?

4.  Depending on the length of the question or comment, signal to the person that you are following by nodding occasionally or even, if an appropriate moment presents itself, interjecting a “yes” or an “I see”. Of course, you have to mean it. Don’t just go through the motions.

5.  Thank the person for the question or comment.

6.  Before responding, pause for a moment to reflect on what you have heard. Too often speakers will start talking while the final syllables of the audience member are still resonating. Doing so signals that you are more interested in hearing your own voice those of others, and that you couldn’t wait until the person finished speaking.

7.  Seek clarification if you do not understand something.

8.  Paraphrase the question or comment back to the audience member, especially if it was lengthy. “You’ve raised three issues . . . one, two and three . . . let me respond to them in order . . .” Doing so confirms to the audience that you have indeed been paying attention.  It also ensures that all members of the audience have heard the question from the floor. And, it gives you time to collect your thoughts.

9.  Always be respectful. You do not have to agree with the person asking the question or making the comment. However, as the speaker on the stage, you have an obligation to ensure that the interaction with the audience is carried out in a professional and dignified manner. “I can tell that this is an issue about which you are passionate. I respect your views but I don’t share them. Here’s why . . .”

Active listening is a skill that can (and should) be developed. We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as often as we speak! And when we listen, there is only one way to do it – actively.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest
mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. Great points. I especially like point 9 about respect. Sometimes I find myself, halfway through what a person is saying, visibly shutting them out and already thinking of rebuttals which must be plainly obvious on my face. I really need to practice keeping some type of poker face until they are finished.

  2. Regarding #5, you can also preface your reply by saying, “I’m so glad you asked that!” “That’s a great question!” “That’s an excellent perspective!” This demonstrates right away to the person and the audience that you are not going to be confrontational even if you disagree with him or her. It also buys you an extra second or two to sort out your response. I have three or four similar replies so that I don’t repeat the same one each time.

  3. I think point number six has always been very valuable. I think, even myself included sometimes, that I just want to jump in and answer questions because I am so passionate, and I want to be able to answer the question right away. But pausing and letting that extra second or two for the question to sink in makes a huge difference.
    Thanks for leaving a comment on my website (www.conversationarts.worpdress.com) about my listening article. It’s greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work!

  4. Hi John. Thanks for the post. Active listening is something almost all of us need to keep practicing and improving.
    Re #7, I like the idea of reminding yourself and other listeners of the points if there have been several. I’m not so sure about paraphrasing. By definition if you paraphrase you are translating from their words to yours. Tends to work better if you pick out words the questioner has used that you think captures the gist. That way they will recognise what you say as the points they were making!
    Dorothea

  5. Great suggestions for active listening. One comment regarding point #9: often times it’s helpful to use the conjunction “and” instead of “but” to keep dialogue moving forward versus creating what can often be points of contention, especially when we don’t necessarily share someone’s perspective.
    Here’s what it would look like:
    ”I can tell that this is an issue about which you are passionate. I respect your views. And I’d like to share another vantage point for your consideration; let me explain…”
    I’ve been amazed to see how replacing “but” with “and” can foster open dialogue and active listening with all parties involved.

  6. Great points.
    You can increase your chances of getting quality questions by giving the audience time to discuss their questions before asking them. This techniques only takes 30 seconds, and works wonders.
    Cheers
    Darren Fleming
    Australia’s Corporate Speech Coach.

  7. Thanks John – I love how this post is both so helpful, and so succinct! (I’ve added a link to it from my own post about handling Q&A. That post shares many tips from speaker-coach Denise Graveline, like how to handle a hostile audience, and even how to use Q&A at the start of your talk rather than at the end.)

    By the way, like you, I agree with Dan Burns’s comment re “I respect your views but…” in #9. Another simple way to make that easier for the person to hear would be just to swap the parts of the sentence. So you could say “I don’t share your views, but I respect them.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

one × four =

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International